Plan: Blackmail Iron Man
by ChangingTheCircumstances
Summary: Tony is forced into building a suit and if he doesn't do exactly what he is supposed to do, everyone of his friends dies. Tony/Steve and Bruce/Loki. Rated T. Sequel to 'Tony's Heart.
1. Chapter 1

**AN: This goes along with the story 'Tony's Heart' which is also a sequel to 'When Loki Spoke the Truth.' You don't have to read them to understand this story but it helps to understand how everyone got together. I hope you enjoy.**

* * *

Tony let his head rest on his counter top with a huge sigh. Pepper was forcing him to go to another company meeting which also meant that he had to wear a suit and tie _and_ he wasn't allowed to arrive in his Iron Man suit. It also meant that she hadn't let him have anything to drink in the past ten hours. He probably would have stayed like that until he was forced to leave except he heard a laugh come from the doorway. Tony looked up to see a chuckling Steve, also in suit and tie.

"You just keep laughing," muttered Tony. "Besides, don't you have to go to one of those S.H.E.I.L.D meetings anyway?"

"Yes, but I'm going there by choice," said Steve with a smile as he came over and gave Tony a quick kiss on the cheek. "What are you still doing here though?"

"Waiting for Happy, why?"

"Well, let's just say he's been waiting outside for about thirty minutes," replied Steve with another laugh as Tony jumped up and grabbed his briefcase. He quickly said bye to Steve as he rushed to a probably now irritated Happy, though Tony doubted that he would ever admit that.

"Morning Mr. Stark," said Happy as he held open the door.

"Morning, sorry for keeping you waiting Happy."

"No problem Mr. Stark."

Tony decided to mess around on his phone, see what's happening in the world, while he was taken to the meeting. It should have taken about forty-five minutes to get to the place but they stopped after only about fifteen minutes. Confused, Tony looked towards the door as it was opened by Happy.

"What . . . oh."

"Sorry Mr. Stark."

"It's alright," said Tony softly as he looked past Happy to the gun pointed at his head.

"Get out of the car Mr. Stark," said the man holding the gun. He wore a simple black suit and had dark eyes and dark hair. "If you don't follow every command I give you things could get . . . messy to say the least."

The way the man said 'messy' and smiled sent chills down Tony's spine but he kept a cool composure and slowly got out of the car. The man motioned for him to walk towards a limo that was blocking his own car from leaving the alleyway that they were currently parked in.

"Promise you won't hurt Happy," Tony said simply. It wasn't a question.

"I won't kill him."

Just as Tony was slowly walking towards the car he heard a cry of pain and spun around to see Happy on the ground, unconscious.

"You said you wouldn't hurt him!"

"No Mr. Stark, I said I wouldn't kill him. Now, get in the car," replied the man with cold detachment.

Tony finally moved once again, giving one last glance at Happy as he got into the car. He wasn't sure what he was expecting but he certainly wasn't ready for what met him. A man, if that's what you could call him, sat at the far end of the limo. He was attached to what seemed like an adult car seat and his body was contorted in ways that looked pretty painful. He had barely any hair left and one of his eyes were light blue while the other was a dark brown. A young woman, in a business suit, sat next to him holding what looked like a phone.

"Tony Stark," croaked the man. His voice was low and sounded like saliva filled it. "It is a pleasure to meet you."

"Oh, the pleasure would be all mine if I just knew who I was addressing."

"My name is Merick Smith. You probably haven't heard of me. I was once a general in the army, though."

"Once? What could have made you quit because it seems to me that your career looked so promising," said Tony sarcastically.

"You are just as quick tongued as they say," replied the man with a laugh that was more like a wheeze. "But enough with the small talk. There is something I need you to build me."

"Yeah, I kind of figured that but I must tell you I'm not very easy to work with and I normally don't accept jobs from strange men."

"I think you will this one."

"You seem pretty sure of yourself. However, I must sadly decline."

"I don't think you will."

"And why is that?"

"Because if you do I'll kill every single one of your friends."

Tony froze up immediately on the inside but was able to keep a calm expression. "Friends?" he asked. "You obviously don't know me as well as you think. I don't have any friends."

"Yes you do or have you forgotten them? Personally I'm still surprised that you've gotten so friendly with that god who nearly destroyed New York last year."

"How the hell do you know Loki's here?" yelled Tony, all composure completely gone now.

"I have my source," said Merick with a smirk. "And I almost forgot, as far as killing friends go, that includes Steve Rogers, your lover."

Tony was practically rigid. How could this man know about Steve, not even Nick Fury knew that. He was about ready to start yelling again when the woman suddenly said, "Sir, we've broken through the last firewall."

"Excellent let me see it," he said as the woman held the phone up to his face. "Hmm, click on the file that says 'emotions.'"

Firewall? What had they just hacked into and why would there be a file that said emotions in it? How were they getting their information? Tony didn't know any of the answers to these questions and was livid now.

"Interesting," murmured the man. "Under 'happiness' it says; when Tony isn't in trouble, when I'm able to read a book, when I'm working on a project with Tony, when Tony is happy. He seems very fond of you Mr. Stark."

"Who?" asked Tony as he clenched his hands together and ground his teeth.

"Who? I'm surprised you haven't realized yet. Oh, look at this 'fear' just popped up. Under it, it says; how I feel right now. Hear that Tony? Your poor AI is actually afraid."

And suddenly everything came into perfect clarity, how they had gotten such information that could only come from someone extremely close to Tony and now it made since why they had said firewall and a file named 'emotions.'

They had hacked Jarvis.


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: Thanks for the reviews! Minor spoiler in this chapter but I'm guessing that you've probably already seen the movie by now. Hope you enjoy the chapter.**

* * *

"What the hell have you done to Jarvis?" yelled Tony as he resisted the urge to completely knock out the man in front of him.

"Oh, nothing serious," Merick replied. "He is only temporarily disabled though I still believe he's _conscience_."

"And you just said you were looking through his 'emotion' file? That's like reading a person's mind. Those are his personal thoughts and feelings. You don't just go through them when you like!" Tony cried in response.

"That is beside the point at the moment. The question is, will you help now Mr. Stark?"

Tony wanted to do anything but say yes. He wanted to pound the man in front of him to dust. Tony wanted to destroy the goons who had somehow hacked into Jarvis and, as girly and stupid as it sounded, he wanted to grab Steve, Bruce, Loki, Pepper, Happy, and Jarvis and just hold them tight and keep them safe. However, none of those were a tangible options so instead he said, "What do you want me to build?"

"I knew you would eventually see reason and understand me Mr. Stark. Now, for you it's quite simple. See, I was shot in the spine and now can't move anything from shoulders and below," croaked Merick. "What I want you to do, is create a suit that you can infuse into my body and nerves so that I can control it with my brain like I would my own muscles."

"What you suggest is impossible."

"They say the technology for the arc reactor isn't possible but you were able to build it in a cave with a bunch of scraps. I think you'll be able to manage," replied Merick. "Besides, you know what happens if you fail." He gave a gruesome smile as Tony's hair stood on end and his hands shook from being so tightly clenched.

* * *

Originally, Jarvis had just been a simple bit of code. No emotions put into him. No developed understanding of humans, just a bunch of ones and zeros. Nonetheless, Tony had done something even better, he had programmed Jarvis so that there was room for him to evolve and the fact that Jarvis had become so human on his own made him all that more human like.

The best way to understand how Jarvis worked was that his hard-drive was similar to that of a brain. Around it was a firewall that protected it, like a human skull. The way he was so human was that he had files that contained things like his emotions, likes, dislikes, etc. but they weren't set. They changed constantly, either adding on, deleting, or expanding on information already their depending on different circumstances just like a human did.

However, out of all the things under the file 'emotion' fear had never been in there. Jarvis, of course, knew what fear was. He had read about it and had seen others experience it but those two things are completely different from experiencing it yourself.

And right now fear was practically the only thing Jarvis could feel. He could still see out of the body Tony had built him and the video cameras but he couldn't move anything. Jarvis could also tell what the people who had hacked him where looking at and that above all scared Jarvis. They looked at everything that was personal in any way to Tony, even information on Agent Phil Coulson though once they found out he was dead they quickly discarded it.

But then they broke down his firewall, then they started going through _him_, and Jarvis became utterly terrified. A small part of him that was remaining rational said that, though it would take over a thousand years to actually hack through the firewalls, if there were over a thousand computers working on hacking through his firewalls and protections then it would take a lot less time. He then tried to trace any of the signals from the computers that were hacking him but he couldn't even do a task as simple as that, he was completely useless at the moment.

Who were these people and why were they so focused on finding anything and everything about Tony's personal life?


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: Thanks so much for the reviews. As you can see, this will be much darker than most of my other fics. Also, your comments and critiques are very helpful and I hope that, even though I'm making him more emotional, that I'm doing a good job of writing Jarvis.**

* * *

Tony hadn't realized it, but they had actually only driven right around the block. The limo pulled back into the alleyway where Tony was instructed to get out which was exactly what he did. He saw the other man standing over, while pointing a gun at, Happy, who was now thankfully awake but still didn't look to good. Tony was walking over to his car and Happy when he turned back and suddenly asked, "How will I get in touch with you?"

"You won't. I'll get in touch with you," Merick replied from inside the car. The other man then walked away from Happy, got into the car, and drove away.

The moment they were gone Tony ran to Happy while asking, "Are you okay?"

"Yes," replied Happy though as he tried to stand up he had to hold on to Tony to keep from falling over.

"You are most defiantly not okay, come on," replied Tony as he pushed him into the passengers' seat and then got into the driver's seat.

"Where are we going?" asked Happy as he nursed the growing lump upon his forehead.

"Home. I have to get to Jarvis."

"Jarvis? What did they do to him?"

Tony took a deep breath as he sped through the streets and ignored the angry honks coming from the other cars. He said, "They hacked into him. No, I don't know how and I don't know if he's alright which is why I'm heading there right now!"

"But what about Pepper? If she finds out you skipped out on the meeting she's going to want to know why. What are we supposed to tell her?"

"Nothing."

"But—"

"No! Don't tell anyone anything about this!" yelled Tony as his house came into view.

Happy looked at him worriedly. "Tony," he said softly, "what are they holding over you?"

However, he didn't get an answer as Tony rushed into his house. Tony ran from room to room, trying to get any of the monitors or even machines to work but nothing would turn on. Finally, he found Jarvis, well his body anyway, but not any amount of probing would awaken the AI.

"Jarvis come on! Don't do this to me!" cried Tony. Suddenly, the man's words came to him again. **I'll kill all your friends**. What if he had destroyed Jarvis already as a warning? What if he was dead? He couldn't just rebuild Jarvis. If they had destroyed Jarvis then he was truly dead.

Suddenly, as if in response to Tony's thoughts, everything on the house blared on and then quickly quieted. Jarvis literally jumped back to life. His eyes flew open and his limbs went all rigid making Tony jump back.

"Jarvis . . . ?"

"Tony!" cried out Jarvis in a very unlike him yell. He clutched Tony tighter than what he thought was possible and buried his head into Tony's jacket.

"Jarvis what—"

"I was completely useless! I couldn't do anything! They looked through everything!" cried Jarvis. "They went through the documents and the videos and the recordings. They . . looked through . . . everything . . . . . even my hard drive and my . . . . . . . emotions and memory and . . . . . . . . . ."

Jarvis trailed off as his body shook and his hands only held on tighter to Tony. Tony's mouth dropped open as he then saw something that surprised him even more than Jarvis hugging him.

He was crying.

Granted, the tears weren't water, they were oil, but that didn't matter. The fact that Jarvis had been brought to tears and was scared out of his mind enough to clutch him made Tony madder than anything else could have. It made him want to crush Merick Smith and everybody else involved in this but he knew he couldn't.

He couldn't risk any of his friends dying and the fact that he had thought he had lost Jarvis had scared him more than he thought possible. It made him think of the time Pepper had been in danger and how he had felt then. Tony didn't want to experience the death of any of his friends and when he finally thought of losing Steve now as well it hurt him just as bad.

He held on tighter to Jarvis as he thought this while his AI cried his eyes out in front of him. Happy came in by then but slowly backed out of the room, not wanting to interrupt the two of them.


	4. Chapter 4

Bruce was working in his lab again. The AC was turned on high despite the chill outside. He should have probably changed it but he was too engrossed in his work to care at the moment. Bruce carefully measured out about a table spoon of what looked like dried leaves and put them in to a small, metal, cup with tiny holes in every side of it. He then put it into some clear liquid that was in a beaker as a shadowed figure slowly crept up behind him.

"Boo."

Bruce yelped as he spun around to meet a smiling Loki who stood right behind him.

"How many times have I told you not to surprise me when I'm working, especially if I have something in my hands?" Bruce chided Loki with a shake of his head.

Loki gave a roll of his eyes as he replied, "Probably a million by now but let me guess what it is this time." He gestured towards the beaker and continued, "It's probably some type of acid that, if you had dropped it, would have burned a hole straight through the floor of our house."

"Actually, it would have just left an ugly stain on the floor. It's my green tea."

Loki burst out laughing as he clutched his stomach. "I still can't believe you do that. I'm surprised you haven't swallowed something that at the very least would be considered unpleasant."

"Well I did get some tea a while back that wasn't great. Does that count?" asked Bruce as he smiled with amusement at Loki's continued laughter. "So why did you come on down here anyway? I told you that I was planning to work all the way to five in the afternoon today. Or did you just get bored?"

Loki leant in for a kiss and smiled against Bruce's lips as he whispered, "Though I did get bored, no that's not why I decided to interrupt you."

"Oh really?" asked Bruce as he pulled away and put down his beaker. "Then why did you come down here?"

"Because it's past five."

"No it's not it's—" Bruce stopped mid sentence as he saw that the only clock in his lab currently read eight fort-nine and it didn't look like it had moved, or was moving anytime soon.

"If you're wondering what time it is, it's nearly five forty-five about right now."

"Oh, crap! We're late!" cried Bruce as started rushing to put everything up.

Loki put a comforting hand on his shoulder as he said, "I highly doubt Tony will be upset. Knowing him, he forgot."

"You still could have come down here. Why didn't you?"

"As weird as it may sound I actually _didn't_ want to interrupt you or your work," said Loki with a smile.

Bruce gave him a skeptical look but left it at that as he finished cleaning up and then went over to one of the monitors. Tony hadn't programmed Jarvis into their house, even though he had tried to convince Bruce, but he had made it so that they could contact Jarvis from one of the many monitors or control panels in the house.

"Yes, Bruce?"

"You can send the jet now. Sorry for the wait."

"It's perfectly all right. I am also to inform you that you won't be dinning out as planned. Instead you'll be eating in."

Loki snorted as he stretched and made his way upstairs. "Leave it to Tony to change plans right before those plans are supposed to happen. And I was looking forward to trying to max out his credit card."

"Loki!" cried Bruce as he chuckled at the smirking and now disappearing figure.

"Thanks Jarvis, see you in a bit."

"Yes, in a bit."

Bruce paused in mid stride and turned back towards the monitor. It could have just been that a speaker was messed up or he could have just miss heard him but Bruce doubted either one of those theories. However, if he had heard correctly, Bruce was having trouble believing that he was right. He had heard a tremor in Jarvis' voice, one that you got when you were extremely scared or worried but Jarvis feeling either of these was unheard of.

"Jarvis are you okay?"

"Of course why wouldn't I be?"

There it was again. The tremor in his voice, this time more pronounced either because Bruce was paying attention or because it had become more distinct. However, he didn't try to push Jarvis in to telling him anything, but that didn't stop him from thinking. Bruce wondered if the fact that Tony had changed plans on them had anything to do with this. Nonetheless, he couldn't figure out what would be so serious to cause Tony to change his plans.

And make Jarvis so scared.

* * *

**AN: Obviously this chapter was less dark but for those that are wanting dread, don't worry it will come. For those that liked the fluff in this chapter, don't worry there will probably be some at the end of the story but not so much for the next few chapters. Thanks again for all the reviews, until next time.**


	5. Chapter 5

The first thing that made Loki notice something was different was the fact that Tony had changed his plans like that. Tony never gave up an opportunity to show off his looks and money and one of the best ways of doing that was going to restaurants. Also, when Happy picked them up, he had a large bruise on his forehead. When Loki asked about it he said he ran into a door frame. Loki knew he was lying, it was a pretty bad lie to begin with, but didn't push. However, he became positive that something was actually wrong when he saw something that he didn't think real at first.

When they got to Tony's house Loki just got a quick glance of Jarvis but he didn't look good. He had stains under his eyes like he had been crying and he shook every once in a while like he was trying to forget a painful memory or experience. He didn't hang around while they ate and Tony never called upon him or asked him about his appearance. It didn't make any sense. Out of everyone there, Tony should be the most aware of Jarvis' appearance yet he never said anything about it.

Then there was dinner itself. Tony was more courteous and he asked questions about how everyone was doing, what they were up to, and other things of similar nature. He wasn't boisterous or obnoxious either. If anyone else had acted like this Loki wouldn't have cared but Tony wasn't like that. He loved to steal the spot light and talk about himself so for him to be polite just seemed out of the question.

After dinner, they had decided to watch a movie together which wasn't to unusual seeing as they did this a lot. However, during the previews, something strange did happen.

Tony and Steve sat side by side. Tony was leaning slightly against the other while Steve had his arm around Tony. Loki and Bruce, however, were snuggled up so close that the only way they could get closer is if they were the same person.

"You two look like a bundle of kittens," muttered Tony as he glanced at them.

Bruce blushed slightly but Loki, sensing a good opportunity to annoy Tony, smirked and asked, "Are we cute kittens?"

He expected Tony to say shut up or insult him like normal. Instead, he stayed silent for a few moments and said, "Yeah, you are cute," in a soft voice.

Everyone turned their heads to look at Tony as if he had gone crazy. Steve and Bruce both looked extremely confused and Loki's mouth actually fell open a bit. Tony glanced at them and with a raised eyebrow asked, "Did I say something wrong?"

"No," replied Loki quickly as he turned back to the TV. Bruce and Steve followed suite but the same thought was running through all their minds now, _What was wrong with Tony?_

Afterwards, when they were getting ready to leave, Loki went over to Tony and asked, "Is anything wrong?"

"No of course not."

Loki could easily tell that he was lying. Not only that, but he could also tell that Tony knew that he knew he was lying. However, Tony wasn't like Bruce or Steve where if you confronted him they would almost automatically tell you. No, Tony was more like Loki himself. Almost no amount of prodding would get him to tell the truth. Tony would only tell everyone what was wrong once he felt that he needed to or could.

So, with that in mind, Loki replied, "That's good. See you later Tony."

"See ya'."

Even though Loki could tell that Bruce was probably thinking along the same lines as he himself, he didn't try to talk about it or bring it up. Considering the last time, though, that Tony had been hiding something, he was certainly acting better this time.

_However_, wondered Loki, could his change in _attitude be a good thing or has something quit wrong brought this on?_


	6. Chapter 6

"You working on another suite?' asked Steve as he walked over to where Tony was working. Steve hardly ever bothered Tony when he knew he was busy but last night's actions worried him so much he had decided to check on him just to make sure. He set down a cup of coffee beside Tony as he looked on at his handy work.

"Uh, yeah a suit," Tony finally said as he took a sip. "Thanks for the coffee."

"Your welcome," replied Steve. He stood there for a few more moments until finally Tony looked up.

"Something you need to say?"

"It's just that . . . it's nothing," Steve eventually said with a sigh. "Come up soon." He kissed Tony on the cheek and then began his way upstairs. If he had just waited a few more seconds, he would have seen the tear that trailed down Tony's cheek.

* * *

For a few moments, Tony let himself indulge in his tears. He let his head fall into his hands and cried soundlessly for several minutes. Tony was scared because he honestly wasn't sure if this was going to work. Yes, he created the arc reactor but that didn't mean this would work beyond a doubt. And yeah, Tony was a genius but just because you're one doesn't mean you can do absolutely anything. He also wanted to trust in Steve but he couldn't tell him. Hell, he hadn't even told Happy everything and it was just luck that he was keeping his mouth shut.

He took a few deep breathes as he dried his eyes. _No use crying now_, he thought to himself._ I haven't failed yet._

Tony began to work again, double checking every single calculation, something he never did, and being probably the most careful he had ever been in his life. However, after awhile an idea came to his mind. It was an idea that could go exactly the way he wanted it to go or it was an idea that, if it didn't go right, could end up getting everyone else killed.

He could always inform good old one-eye.

But, if Merick Smith had him under surveillance, which Tony was sure he did, then they could easily find out if he had gone and told anyone what was happening. Also, if they were able to hack into Jarvis, Tony didn't doubt that they could hack into S.H.E.I.L.D. even Nick Fury's office. If that happened, there was a very large probability that at the very least, one of his friends could get killed.

No he couldn't risk it.

"Tony, there's a message for you and I don't think you're going to like it," said Jarvis suddenly from one of the speakers. Tony noted that every time Jarvis did something it was much hollower, emotionless. He spoke softly and in monotones, just sort of ghosting from place to place like he didn't belong there. It made Tony think of Bruce when he had first come to live with him. He didn't like it at all.

"Okay, show it on my screen," murmured Tony. The message read:

_Dear Mr. Stark,  
__I would like to meet, 5.00 in the afternoon. Have your driver begin to drive you around town at 4.55. We will find you.  
__Merick Smith_

* * *

It would be a lie if Nick Fury said that this was the most frustrated he had ever been but it was still up there in the top ten. He turned to the three agents that stood in front of his desk. Two of the three agents he had seen in his office fairly often. They were, of course, Agent Romanoff and Agent Barton. However, the third agent Director Fury had also seen a lot of, but he couldn't help but marvel at how much better he looked now every time he saw him.

"Have none of you been able to get close to him?" asked Fury as he looked at them.

Romanoff stepped forward and said, "Though I have not gotten extremely close to him, I have found out something that seems very interesting."

"Oh?"

"It seems he has been in contact with Tony Stark, sir. Though there is no concrete evidence to this, but I still wouldn't put it past him, it would appear that he is blackmailing Mr. Stark."

Fury stayed silent for awhile as he thought about this. There were probably a good number of people who would blackmail Tony, most likely because they wanted some type of technology from him. However, Tony was one of the most self centered men in the universe, had practically no shame, and Fury couldn't fathom how anyone could blackmail him.

Finally, Fury looked back at his three agents. "I think I'm going to go pay a visit to our Iron Man."

* * *

**AN: I hope this was satisfactory. So far it's been the hardest chapter to write. Thanks for the reviews and enjoy.**


	7. Chapter 7

Tony was so engrossed in his work that neither did he hear Jarvis informing him of his guest nor did he hear the doors open. To put it simply, he was nearly scared out of his mind when Fury poked him in his side.

"Do you have ear plugs in or something?" asked Fury with a raised eyebrow.

"It's not my fault I didn't know you came in. You should have phoned ahead."

"Now why would I waste all those minutes?" replied Fury as he crossed his arms.

"Because I'm that much worth it."

"Yeah, right," muttered Fury. Then, like he always did, he got right down to the point. "There's a case I have a few of my agents working on and I believe you might know the man they're investigating."

"Really? What's his name?"

"Merick Smith."

Tony froze up inside as his mind raced and he wondered what S.H.E.I.L.D. could possibly want with the man. However, he kept a cool composure and said, "Sorry, never heard of him."

_Interesting_, thought Fury. "Really because we got an anonymous tip that said you and him were really tight."

"Define, 'tight.'"

"He was blackmailing you."

"How could anyone blackmail me?" asked Tony. However, the thought that S.H.E.I.L.D. might be able to find out what was happening without him having to actually say anything excited him and frightened him a great deal.

"That's what I asked myself. But are you sure you don't know him?"

"No."

"To bad, he's got a heavy price on his head," replied Fury as he walked away. Tony was surprised by his sudden departure but didn't say anything. Nevertheless, Fury could tell that Tony was hiding something and he would eventually get it out of him. Just not now, first he would wait.

* * *

Happy was skeptical at first and in truth was skeptical afterwards even after Tony reassured him that it was perfectly safe. He wanted to say, "They kidnapped you and bashed me upside the head, there's nothing safe about it," but instead kept his trap shut.

Just like the note said, the car was pulled over at exactly five o'clock. A man then instructed Tony to get into another car where Merick and that woman who had been with him before were in. Tony didn't like the way that man was smiling at him as he sat down.

"You buzzed?" asked Tony as he glared at the man sitting across from him.

"In a way, yes. I was going to have you told my height and weight so that you can get the suit the right size, see how work was coming along and all that, but there is one other thing that needs to be discussed first," replied Merick in his throaty voice.

"Oh what's that?"

"You were in contact with that Director Fury of S.H.E.I.L.D. I like to trust people but with you I'm not sure. You could have always let something slip. Wouldn't be too hard, the way you phrased something or acted."

"You threatened the lives of all my friends why would I risk any of them just to get a message over to one-eye."

"You are very arrogant Mr. Stark. Maybe you thought you could get it past me. Either way, I would like you to watch this."

The woman gave him the cell phone that she always kept in her hand and Tony stared down at the video that had already started playing. He didn't like where this was going at all. "What is it of?"

"It's a live video feed. Hopefully it will teach you a good lesson, that I have a bloody way of motivating people into doing what I want them to."

* * *

**AN: Left off on a bit of a cliff hanger didn't I? Don't worry, I'll have the next chapter up in no time. Thanks again for all the reviews they are very helpful. ^^**


	8. Chapter 8

Loki had gotten into the habit of taking a walk at least once every two days, sometimes more. Often, he would walk alone but sometimes Bruce would accompany him or his brother, Tony, or Steve if they were visiting. When someone joined, it was usually quit loud from all the chatter but right now it was quite. But also loud.

Though no one was talking, he was alone it would be kind of weird if he was just talking to himself, but today the forest was very much alive. Despite the fact that he only saw one squirrel, and what he was pretty sure were raccoon eyes, birds sung their songs up in the tree and he could hear the scampering of small animals running back and forth through the foliage. Light, which shown green because of the leaves, revealed itself through the branches of trees as a soft wind whispered through the forest. It was peaceful, calm, something that Loki had once not been use to but now very much liked.

_Snap!_

That was most defiantly not a small animal. Loki knew that it wasn't any of his friends, Bruce wouldn't sneak up on him like that, Steve and Tony weren't around, and his brother's arrival was always accompanied by a large thunder storm. It was always possible that it was a larger animal, like a wolf or even a bear, but Loki knew that if it was, the animal would have continued on walking, not suddenly stop.

Which meant that the whoever that had made that noise, was not a welcomed guest.

However, Loki didn't change his pace. He didn't look around. He acted like hadn't noticed anything when in fact, he was now noticing more than ever. His ears tuned out the forest and zeroed in on anything that didn't belong there.

There, were about ten of them he finally decided to himself_. I could easily kill that many but I doubt that would sit well with S.H.E.I.L.D._ thought Loki. _However, that doesn't mean I can't go a few rounds with them._

Behind him, he heard the safety on a gun being turned off. Loki could tell that the group had him almost completely surrounded now. The only opening was directly in front of him.

Suddenly, he made a dash towards a nearby tree, at the same time, making his staff come into existence, something he hadn't done in quite some time. Shots rang out from behind him but he was already in the clear. He made a doppelganger of himself appear exactly opposite from where he was just to confuse them as well.

He then moved to his first victim. It was obvious the guy wasn't used to this because he was firing at practically nothing. However, though Loki didn't know a lot about human weaponry he did recognize the gun as S.H.E.I.L.D.'s but the man wasn't wearing S.H.E.I.L.D. clothing and, truthfully, Loki was pretty sure that they would never let anyone this inexperienced into the field.

Loki knocked the gun out of his hands with his staff as he elbowed him in the neck. A knee to the solar plexus quickly finished him off. He then created another doppelganger and went on to the next person.

Even though the first guy was obviously a rookie, the rest still weren't too hard to take down. Loki was a god after all. However, as he took down the seventh guy, his luck finally began to run out. He was rushing from behind one tree to another when another shot rang out and this one finally hit its mark.

Loki rolled behind the tree, and held his left arm as he made the staff disappear. Damn it hurt! Unwanted tears sprung to his eyes as he gripped his arm. And, as if to make matters worse, the bullet hadn't passed straight through. Instead, it had gotten trapped in his bone. However, there were only two others left.

With that in mind, Loki pulled himself up and peeked around the tree. Both men were advancing on him quickly, obviously thinking they had him for sure. Though, Loki had planned to try keeping everyone alive, he had seriously been pissed off and didn't really care if a life or two were lost now.

Quickly materializing a gun made by the Chitauri race, something that he was actually use to, Loki spun out from behind the tree and shot both men in the head, only needing to fire twice. Both fell to the ground dead as Loki walked over to them and made the gun disappear.

As he stood over them, he saw something very interesting. One of the men had a camera, seemed that someone had wanted to watch that little show down. Loki crushed it with his foot while he tried to blink away the tears and keep the bleeding to a minimal with his hand.

"I wonder who you work for," whispered Loki. Then, without a backward glance, he made his way back to the house where he hoped that Bruce would be able to get the bullet out. He didn't want a scene with anyone, least all Tony who he knew would probably be way over dramatic.

However, as he walked back, a thought came to him that terrified him more than the unwanted group back there. He realized he had missed that. He missed that feeling of power, the feeling as he took a life, the feeling of seeing someone dead at his feet once more. It scared him as unwanted memories of what had happened on Asgard, as well as when he had tried to take over the Earth, came rushing back to him.

_I am not that man anymore_, he said to himself with as much force he could muster.

_Yes, you are. You are every bit of the monster._

Loki froze in mid stride. _That's not my voice! I didn't think that! That wasn't me!_

There was no response.

Loki hurried on to the house, debating whether or not to tell Bruce that he was suddenly hearing voices.


	9. Chapter 9

**AN: Hope you liked the last chapter and thanks for all the reviews again.**

* * *

Tony could practically jump for joy at first when he saw Loki beat Merick's men to a living pulp but then he remember who he was dealing with. "You've looked through my files so you should know how hard Loki is to beat. Why did you send so few men?"

"To show you that whether or not he's a _god_, he is not invincible. If I wanted to, I could send an army after each and every one of your friends. This was just a show," replied Merick with a smirk. "Besides, it's fun to see a little bloodshed every once in a while."

"Those were your men!"

"So?"

Tony shook his head disgust as he looked back at the recording and then frowned. "These are S.H.E.I.L.D. issued weapons. How the hell did you get a hold of them?"

"Why would I tell you?"

"Good point but answer me this: Is this why Fury came to talk to me today?"

"Probably," replied Merick. "I don't know how he could have known about our interactions, it could have just been chance that he picked you but they are looking for me because I've been stealing from them for the past two years. If I'm correct, though, they only just found out about it a year ago. Oh, I almost forgot, here is the information that I planned to give you."

Tony took the file handed to him by the woman when the car suddenly stopped. "You're dropping me off now?"

"Why? Something else you wanted to say?"

"No, I was just having so much fun," replied Tony sarcastically.

"Just get out of the car," suddenly said a man that had opened the side door.

Tony turned to glare at him but instead came face to face with a barrel.

"Get out of the—"

"Ok I'm going I'm going," Tony said with a shake of his head. As he got out and headed towards where he saw his car he suddenly stopped and turned. The man who had opened his door, his voice had sounded so familiar. He was the right height and build as well but the face was wrong.

Tony shook his head. No, it couldn't be him besides last time he checked he was dead. But still, Tony couldn't shake the unnerving feeling that the voice wasn't just similar to his dead friend's. It was his.

* * *

Nick Fury once again stared at the three agents in front of him. Agent Romanoff stepped forward and said, "We are positive that Stark is being blackmailed."

The third agent stepped forward. "Yes, and not only that but I was able to get close enough, finally, today. I saw him, the target, and judging by his condition my guess is that he is trying to make Stark create something that will once again allow him to move his limbs."

Fury nodded. He remembered the suit that he had seen Stark building and how he had thought it looked a little different from his other ones. He then turned to Agent Barton and asked, "Anything you have?"

"I believe that they are blackmailing him by threatening his friends. They also tried to kill Loki."

Well that was surprising. Fury raised an eyebrow at this and then finally said, "When were you going to tell me that they tried to kill Loki?"

"Right now, sir," replied Barton.

Even though Fury was with Barton, that he would have been fine with Loki actually dying, he was pretty sure that Dr. Banner wouldn't sit too well with that, especially if he knew that S.H.E.I.L.D. had knew and hadn't done anything about it.

Fury gave another sigh and then said, "Do you know if there are stake outs on each of Tony Stark's friends?"

"Yes," said Agent Romanoff suddenly, "and I think I know a way to finally get Merick."

"I'm listening."

* * *

When Bruce saw Loki walk in all bloody, his heart rate sky rocketed from fear and anger. He clutched himself as he felt 'the other guy' bubbling underneath. He took deep breathes as he walked over to Loki, trying to remain calm.

"What happened," he finally said.

"I got shot and it really hurts. Mind taking a look at it?" said Loki irritably as he made his way past Bruce and towards the lab downstairs.

"Right, of course," Bruce muttered and then rushed in front of Loki to get things ready. He put a chair for Loki by one of the tables and then got out all the chemicals that he knew he would need to clean the wound and the few knifes he had down there that were close enough to surgical blades. By the time Loki finally made his way down the stairs, Bruce was ready.

He quickly maneuvered Loki to the area he had set up and then went into doctor mode. He applied an antibacterial that would clean the wound and then put cleaned the knives he would have to use. Next, he put on what looked like yellow paste that numbed the wound.

Bruce then saw Loki visibly gulp as he got a small scalpel. "Believe me, it's going to hurt a lot worse if I just leave it in there."

He then proceed to take the bullet out. It was painful, for Loki, and messy for everyone. Thankfully though, the bullet had gotten trapped in the side of the bone so it wasn't completely surrounded by it. A few times Loki would whimper but he was able to keep himself from crying out loud.

Once the grueling process was done, Bruce finally asked, while he was cleaning up, "Will you please tell me what happened now and don't you dare say a bear did this to you. Bears don't shoot."

Loki nodded and began to tell what happened from start to finish. When he was done Bruce said, "I'm contacting S.H.E.I.L.D."

"Wait—"

Bruce frowned at he turned back to Loki. "Is there a reason you don't want me to contact them?"

"No it's just that . . . I wanted to say I'm sorry for snapping at you."

"It's alright," reassured Bruce.

However, Bruce continued to frown for he could tell that Loki was hiding something but didn't press it as he went to call the director of S.H.E.I.L.D. Behind him, Loki shuddered at the memory of the voice, as he tried to convince himself that it hadn't happened.


	10. Chapter 10

Pepper walked into a room of very confused people. Happy was there, looking down at his shoes while Bruce was obviously deep in thought. Steve was talking with Loki who had his left arm bandaged up. Jarvis was the only one sitting down, looking also in thought as he rubbed his chin.

Pepper cleared her voice but no one seemed to hear her. She tried again. "Excuse me?"

Bruce finally looked over in surprise as he said, "Oh, Pepper. So you're here to."

Everybody else turned to see Pepper standing in the doorway with a furrowed brow. "What do you mean that I'm 'here to?' What's going on?"

"See that's the problem," replied Loki. "None of us know why we're here, not even poster boy has been clued in on this."

"That's strange," muttered Pepper. "Normally Tony has at least someone else in on any of his schemes."

* * *

It had been two days since his meeting with Merick and Tony was making a good bit of progress when he began to hear commotion from upstairs. He frowned and suddenly noticed that Jarvis wasn't there anymore. Instead of calling on the AI, Tony decided just to go and figure out what had happened. He frowned as he saw them all standing there in his living room.

"What are you all doing here?"

"What do you mean by that?" asked Pepper. "You're the one who sent the message."

Tony frowned as she handed him a message that said to come to his house signed, somehow, by him.

"I didn't right this," Tony replied.

"Then who did because Bruce I also got one including Happy as well," replied Loki.

* * *

It was going perfectly. Romanoff and Barton, along with a number of other agents, had Merick's people surrounded. His third man, who was undercover, actually was right by Merick, ready to arrest him when the order was given.

Merick's people who had originally had all of Tony's friends under surveillance were now surrounding the house. With them there in one place Fury was positive that they could avoid any causalities, on his side anyway.

"If possible do not kill," said Director Fury into the walkie-talkie. "However, I'd rather have a dead enemy than a dead ally. Is that clear?"

Number of yeses sounded in and Fury shook his head in satisfaction as he began to watch everything unfurl on his monitor. His third agent was in a good position at the moment and a few seconds later Fury murmured, "Go."

Gun shots broke out, and a few arrows from Barton, as everything began. While most of his agents took out the men surrounding Tony's house, his third agent, along with a few others, already had their area under control and a very surprised Merick in custody. Fury smiled at his good work but then again, he had always been the best. There were no casualties from the third agent and a few from Romanoff and Barton. _Excellent job_, thought Fury as he got ready to go see Tony.

* * *

Tony didn't know what the hell was happening and he was quickly beginning to go out in full panic mode when the gun shots finally stopped and Director Fury walked in.

"What the hell did you just do!" yelled Tony, who still didn't really know what was going on. Behind Fury followed another man. It was the one from the last time Tony had met Merick. "What's he doing here?"

"Don't worry, he's an agent who was undercover," reassured Fury, "and as to what I just did, well, I'm pretty sure I just saved all your lives."

"Wha—"

"Merick is in our custody now Stark, though mainly because he was stealing from S.H.E.I.L.D. it also means that you're not being blackmailed anymore."

"You were being blackmailed?" whispered Pepper as she stared at him. "Why didn't you tell anyone?"

"Because if I didn't you would have died!" said Tony. "I couldn't risk that."

Everyone stared wide eyed at him, not really knowing what to say. However, before anyone could say anything Tony then turned on Fury again. "You should have told me what you were planning to do! And you," he turned on the agent that stood beside Fury, "did you really have to put a gun in my face! Seriously, talk about over kill!"

"Mr. Stark I am—"

"You can take off the mask now," interrupted Fury. Upon the agent's questioning glance Fury nodded his reassurance. The agent sighed as he pulled off probably the most realistic mask Tony had ever seen.

"Coulson!"

Now everyone was completely shocked, staring wide eyed at the agent that they had thought was dead for so long. Tony walked up to him, staring in surprise when he then amazed everyone else again.

He slapped him.

Before anyone could say anything Tony began yelling again. "We thought you were dead! We thought you were gone for good and you didn't say anything at all!"

"I couldn't. There was a job I had to do and—"

"I don't care if there was a job! I don't care if it would have been breaking protocol!" Tony cried. "We thought you were dead. That hurt us, all of us, because you're our friend."

With that said Tony wrapped him into the tightest hug possible and everyone else quickly joined him except for Loki and Jarvis who just stood at the edge of the group kind of awkwardly until finally someone grabbed them and pulled them in. Coulson was clearly surprised by the hug and how much everyone had missed him. For a moment, he was completely stiff until finally he loosened up and gave that small smile he always did.

Fury looked on with amusement until he finally decided that he better go have a _talk_ with Merick Smith. If he was still feeling in a good mood later on, maybe he'd let Stark have some fun with him.

* * *

**AN: Yes I brought Coulson back and I don't care! I love Coulson and I can br****ing him back if I want to. Once again thanks for all the lovely reviews. There will be one more chapter after this. 'Till then!**


	11. Chapter 11

Tony couldn't believe that it was finally over. Who knew that not having to worry about your friends being killed could be so uplifting. He sat with everyone, drinking and surprisingly still being able to laugh despite the hardship that had just happened.

Even Coulson had stayed and everyone was catching him up on all that had been happening. Though he didn't seem too surprised about Tony and Steve getting together, he was defiantly surprised by the expression on his face when they told him about Bruce and Loki getting together. Everyone was laughing and having a good time.

However, there was one person missing. Loki. He had said that he was going to go to the bathroom but that had been over ten minutes ago.

"Maybe I should go check on him," murmured Bruce uncertainly. He could tell that something had been bothering him and that it had only started recently.

"Oh, leave him be," replied Tony with the wave of a bottle. "I'm sure he's fine."

Bruce doubted that he was _fine_ but he decided that he might as well wait about two minutes more. For all he knew, Loki could simply have an upset stomach. However, something just seemed to tell him that that was defiantly not it.

* * *

Loki leaned over the sink in Tony's bathroom, his hair and the front of his t-shirt soaked and dripping. On the inside, he was burning up and no matter how much water he splashed onto himself he wouldn't cool down. Sweat mixed with tears and water over his body as he shook. His eyes were shut tight and his skin was nearly as white as the marble that made up the counter top.

_I'm not like that! It was different that one time._

_No it wasn't. You still enjoyed killing those two people!_

The voice was there again. It wouldn't go away and Loki still had no idea where it was coming from. It was driving him mad.

_You don't know me at all._

_I know you better than you think. I know you like to kill. You like power, pleasure, and pain all rolled up in one nice little bundle for yourself._

_I'm not like that anymore!_

_Of course you are. You are—_

"GET OUT OF MY HEAD!" screamed Loki finally. His eyes flew open and he actually fell back from the shock of it. If he was in a regular bathroom he would have hit his head but this was Tony's, there was plenty of space between his head and any walls.

However, that didn't matter at the moment. The main thing that mattered was what he saw in the mirror. Slowly, Loki got up and walked back over to the counter top and blinked several times to make sure it wasn't a trick of the light. But it wasn't. It was real. His eyes had turned completely black.

By now, his heart was racing out of control. He was breathing so hard that he could feel the lack of oxygen inside him. He started to get woozy and his vision swam.

_I'm not getting out of your head. Not anytime soon. Instead, I'm going to do a test, see how blood thirsty you can really be. I've already done pretty well so far. By the end of next week you should be in my full control. Who do you think I should try it on next, maybe Bruce?_

Then Loki did something that he had never done in his life.

He fainted from fright.

* * *

**AN: Did the ending interest you at all? It did, then good because I'm going to make a story all about it called 'The Demon inside the former Monster.' I might change the title but more than likely I'll keep it the same. I won't post it immediately tomorrow or probably even the next day after so sorry. However, it won't be to long from now so don't worry. 'Till, next time and once again thanks for all the lovely comments, favorite-ing, and story alerts.**


End file.
